Need advice about L4-5 disc herniation

melody84

I have been having back pain with radiating sciatic pain to some extent for nearly six months. Sometimes it has gone away to the point that I could function normally and even work but for the past two months I have since been having severe sciatic pain again, and it has affected my mobility to the point that I can not sit at all and can only stand for short periods of time. I was in physical therapy for six weeks and was seeing slow improvement, but since then bent down to pick up my tens unit off the floor and re-injured myself. My doctor gave me a medrol taper which I believe has helped the inflammation considerably. But the pain is still too debilitating for me to lead a normal life and return to normal activities.
My doctor ordered an MRI, and the results showed that everything is normal aside from this:
"The L4-5 disc shows narrowing, desiccation, and a right paramedian disc extrusion. While not causing a severe degree of central stenosis, there is clearly nerve root compression in the right lateral recess. Radicular symptoms would be expected in the right L5 nerve root compression."
The radiologist said I seemed to be a perfect candidate for surgery. My doctor told me he wouldn't mess around with epidural cortisone, especially since I've been on two rounds of oral steroids in the past two months. He said if it were his back, he would have the surgery. I meet with an orthopedic surgeon in about week and am strongly considering this if the surgeon wants to do microdiscectomy, but would be very reluctant to do anything else. The thought of any surgery scares me to death honestly. But given where I am now with my mobility, I don't see many other options for me. I want my life back. Any information that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. Also, looking for real life stories about microdiscectomy surgeries, and how long it takes to recover from something like that.